1st 500 Build

[shakey]

I found the manual on it. I am going to try tomorrow and see if I can use the TX to set it up. Never had much luck doing it like that, but might get lucky this time.

If anyone has any ideas please feel free to help out.

Here's a link to the ESC: www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uploads/User%20manual%20turnigy_85A_ESC_rOK%20%281%29%281%29.pdf

[shakey]

OK , this morning I re-calibrated the throttle and that did it. It binds right up and I have motor now. I ran it up till it started to lift and tail is rock solid, better than anything I have. My 450's are solid once there spun up, but not like this. You were right Gabe, you really have to be easy on the throttle right off the bat. This is a very torque motor. Every thing seems to be working right. Now just need some calm weather to do some testing outside.

Thanks again Gabe for selling me this. If you want to sell the programmer for the ESC, I would be interested.

[Gabe]

Just read all your PMs and saw this post. I'm glad you got her up and running despite my slow responses.

Good to hear that she hovers and the tail holds! Those are the two critical elements.

[Gabe]

Here's the curves I was using:

PITCH CURVES:
NORMAL: 35, 42.5, 54, 75, 100
ST1, ST2: 0, 50,100 (linear)

THROTTLE CURVES:
NORMAL: 0, 60, 70, 80, 90,
ST1: 0, 70, 80, 90, 100
ST2: 100, 95, 90, 95, 100

Not sure why I had the throttle curve for ST1 set the way it was. The LHS set it up that way. If you do this, DO NOT go inverted on ST1. You must have full throttle at negative pitch to go inverted. You'll need to use ST2 curves for any inverted flight. If you simly set your ST1 and ST2 throttle curves to 100, 95, 90, 95, 100 - you'll be fine.

There's an absolutely perfect transition from normal flight to idle up with these curves too. If you're hovering, you won't even notice you switched over except for a very slight increase in the headspeed. You should be able to hear it, but not notice any difference in your hover. In idle up though, the collective pops HARD. So go easy until you are comfortable jamming the sticks around. This bird will get away from you quickly - a positive collective pop will send her 100' into the air in about a second. It will do the same for the negative as well - so she can jam into the ground quick.

Also, I didn't have a programming card for the Turnigy ESC. I had one for the Hobbywing ESC. I remember programming it with the TX. Sorry buddy.

HAPPY FLYING!

[shakey]

I was reading on this particular motor and many people had commented that this motor runs 200kv more than it is rated. They recommended running no more than 85 to 90% throttle. Not sure how true that is, but I won't be needing that for awhile.

As I was testing the other day, it was pulling back hard on hoover, so I picked it up by the rotor and found there was to much tail weight. I had to add a third battery to even it up, since I don't have the 6S batteries yet. That evened it up and should lift even now. Will be doing more testing soon. Very happy with the response of every thing so far.

[Gabe]

She was always a little tail heavy with me too. A click or two on the up elevator trim solves the issue and she'll hover beautifully. It never affected my flying and I did mild 3D with it (tic-tocs, etc.)

As far as the throttle goes, I wouldn't be afraid of it. Most people don't even realize how little they move the throttle stick in the first place. But - better to move at your own pace and get comfortable with the bird first. Then, ramp up as you become more confident.

[shakey]

Well I finally has some mild wind this weekend and was able to do some testing with the 500. What a big difference between the 450's and the 500. Still have a little tweaking to do, but she handled very well. I was amazed at the stability. Was able to balance it out wit little stick input. Very happy over all. Now I'm thinking of a 550 or 600 even. Just wish I had gone there sooner.

Can't say the same about my 450. It and I did not get along so good. While I was looking at the TX for a second to make an adjustment, a small gust of wind came up and blew right into me. I guess I fared better than it did though. I only got 3 puncture wounds as it did a little more damage to the heli. Damage was mild compared to other crashes I have had. Guess I broke it's fall ;D. Just need to make sure I get out of the way next time. Could have been a lot worse.

I figure if I get good flying the 450's, It will make me a better pilot for the bigger size. Very glad I made the jump to the 500.

Thanks again Gabe for giving me the opportunity to move up to the 500 class. I would have probably thought all heli's flew like the 450 until I finally got a chance to fly a bigger scale. Amazed at how much more stable they are. I guess all the extra weight has it's advantage. It is definitely more stable in windy conditions!!!

[Gabe]

I wish I had started with the 500. Hope she treats you well - glad you got her up and flying!

[shakey]

Thanks Gabe, I'm sure if anything bad happens it would be operator error or electronics. Glad to be able to fly now with a little wind. It's really hard to find a calm day here in Iowa. With the short summers, it don't leave many days to fly, so you need to be able to fly as often as possible, and the 500 should be the ticket. Just have to watch out for those pesky 450's roaming the area lol.

Hope your move is going well.

[shakey]

I don't understand, I have setup my 500 and everything was set. While I was flying it tonight I decided to check the blade alignment and found one blade running higher than the other.

Could someone please explain how they align there blades once they get the swash plate leveled. I have aligned these and at zero and can not figure it out apparently. I even checked them at full up and down and they matched and still show out of alignment. Everything is straight and yet I must be doing something wrong. Maybe if someone could explain how they do it, I may catch something I'm doing wrong. This must be why I am having problems getting them to hoover correctly.

Would I be right in assuming that once you get it zeroed, that this is only a starting point and +10 pitch would be where I need to make sure I'm leveled? Since Zero will take care of it's self.

[akphill]

when setting up your swash plate for level
idle up set throttle stick to center check with pitch gauge to make sure both blades are 0 pitch then go to full pitch check and adjust to +11 degrees then go full negative pitch and check for -11 degrees

when you adjust for center stick 0 pitch this the place to be really particular try and ajust so there is no 1/2 degrees anywhere no quarters degrees make sure both blades read the same at center stick
if you still have a tracking issue after doing this then you need to replace the dampners in the head with some more better ones
also you might pull them out and see if they are in good shape no tears or damage check and see how loose the are on the shaft this will cause all kinds of tracking problems too
hope this helps

[Gabe]

Bryan,

You should also check that your blades are balanced. If they're not, they will throw your tracking off. You'll need to buy a blade balancer if you don't already have one. The blades should have come with some thin stickers that you can place on the light blade to even it out.

If it's only off a little bit, I wouldn't stress about it. I would say up to a half inch is fine for what your doing. It's not right, and it won't be as smooth, but you can still fly.

Otherwise I'd do what Phil suggested with the dampeners.

[shakey]

I have a balancer and a scale both. The blades are fine. I really think it's just the pitch adjustments. The head and all parts are brand new. They have never been wrecked and only have a few flights on them.

After i zeroed the blades and I ran the pitch up to +10 I noticed that the blades did not line up. So I'm pretty sure that it is the pitch. I am going to reset them tonight and will let you no how this turns out. I guess I thought if I had the pitch set right at zero, that it would be ok all the way through, but not the case. For some reason I did not check the alignment after I zeroed everything. So I will setup the pitch at +10 and - 10 and see how I come out.

I just forgot to go to the second step after I zeroed the blades. I went and set the blades to +10 and found that is was off 2 degrees. Same with -10. So after resetting them, I spun it up and have 1 blade again. This should really help with the hoover. I can't believe I forgot to do the second step. My bad. I forgot it on all of them also so now I can explain the trouble I have been having with hoovering on all 3 of them. But the rods were also to tight and was causing there own problems also. So now I will test her out and see where I'm at. Bet I will like the results.

Can't believe I missed such little things. Guess that's how we learn. Thanks guys for the help!

[Gabe]

Glad you figured it out. One more side note though - misaligned blades can also be a byproduct of an improper head set up. There is a great Finless video on the helifreak forums about how to properly set up a head and level the see saw and swash and all the linkage. It's imperative to getting proper tracking.

[shakey]

I see that, I went out this morning again and while I was flying I noticed the main blades where out of alignment again. I am having a real hard time getting them in. It says by the pitch guides that all is ok. But still there not. +10, -10, zero all show ok. But blades are not aligning right. I really need to figure this out.